As for jp...nomad always seems displeased in his post. He's usually doubting me, giving me negative inspiration, or downright telling me off (welcome to the real world). Welcome to the real world? All I did was ask an innocent question.

It's as if he didn't like me from the second I first posted.

Then, he was telling me to maybe not pursue this career. Thanks for the inspiration, nomad, I hope you enjoy stepping on people's dreams.

As for your question, jp, I wanted to become a teacher since I was a kid. Teaching the future of our world is the most amazing thing you can do, but also to spread your love of your native language to other children across the world and to help them learn it? Amazing.

But I guess I should give up my dream because I asked simple questions about how long it takes to get a degree.

If you want to teach badly enough you will find a way to make it happen.

However there are two general camps:
1. People who are in a hurry- wanting to travel and experience life abroad right NOW and are not willing to put in the effort of getting properly trained (in any field) before hand, so these types take off on their exciting journey ill eqipped over the long haul. They are heading down a dead end path with limited prospects due to not having proper qualifications to get work to pay for the travel and lifestyle abroad. They usually end up stuck in a rut as time passes and end up frustrated later in life due to not having had the foresight to recognize the bigger picture. They don't believe they will ever grow old!

2. The second type recognizes the bigger picture and understands that teaching is a commitment and is willing to forego the travel abroad experience for a number of years to gain the necessary qualifications first. These people end up with stronger qualifications and are in a better position to pick and choose where they want to teach and have more freedom in deciding the type of teaching due to specialized training. They understand how the world of teaching works by conducting research. They "get" that obtaining an appropriate teaching degree will carry them further in life than without one. These types are laying a solid foundation for their future.

I have known people in both of the above camps who are now in their 40s and 50s...you can bet the ones that took their time getting properly qualified are much happier and have many more options to chose from compared to the ones that chose not to get the necessary training.

You will not be young forever. Be smart and take your time getting properly qualified. Volunteer within your comunity to gain some experience. Get a bachelors degree (at very least). University can also help you broaden your outlook. By the time you graduate you will still have plenty of years to teach abroad and at the same time equipped with the qualifications to take you where you want to go. You will have more control over your life.

I personally think everyone's been extremely tolerant and patience with a thread that started out with such a 'joke' premise to begin with.

As I noted before, no reputable employer anywhere is going to hire an unqualified 18 or 19 year old; best course of action is to go get a degree and a few more years behind you. Otherwise, you're simply a target for exploitation.

There's plenty of people working here in China "under the radar", mostly doing less than desirable jobs. But some are also doing distance degrees at the same time; which when you think about it isn't the worst idea. If you're young and not risk averse in three years time you could have a BA, teaching experience and no massive student loan hanging over your head.

I'm sure there's the potential for it all to go horribly wrong as well!

My students have no such freedom - they jolly well answer all my questions or face a firing squad! That is a good way of motivating them to speak. And in my school, we have many, many other ways...

So, similarly I think posters should also be forced to answer all my questions too. They may think they have the right of refusal or a right to privacy even, but this is a bourgeois delusion, which should and will be swept away with the old order. Then, in this collective full knowledge of each other, shall we advance the cause of EFL globally! Hic! Foward! March into the future!

As for your question, jp, I wanted to become a teacher since I was a kid. Teaching the future of our world is the most amazing thing you can do, but also to spread your love of your native language to other children across the world and to help them learn it? Amazing.

But I guess I should give up my dream because I asked simple questions about how long it takes to get a degree.

Shane,

Glad to hear that you want to become a teacher because you want to improve the education of children.

I must ask if you have ever tried to learn another language? Have you ever tried to use another language in the native location?

It's important to understand that teaching is not about you, the teacher. It is about the student, their goals, their motivation, and their learning. You may be passionate about the English language but children do not learn from your passion. Your passion helps set the mood, but it is not how people learn languages and then use them in the context that is required. They learn because they have motivation, desire to study, and they have competent instruction. They need someone who can concisely give them the "what/why" of the language, give them effective lessons that eliminate superfluous garbage, and can manage a classroom.

THAT is why you should consider a proper TESL education (and I personally believe that is a related degree and not just any vanilla degree, but that is a debatable subject).

Let's pretend you need to learn Spanish so you can be a liaison with Spanish-speaking business associates. At best, it's a class elective. At worse, you will lose your job if you don't get up to speed. If you sat in a classroom with 20 other students, and your instructor was a 19 year old with no related education in teaching or the Spanish language, do you think you would be happy paying for that class?

I think the OP might have his heart in the right place but he seems to fall into the category of those aspiring teachers who think that EFL can be done by an unqualified young adult standing in front of them and talking about things like "culture". Sure, you can go on about McDonalds and California for the first day, but on the second day, will you look like a fool when asked for a clear explanation between various tenses (which might be the easiest potential student question of the day)?

The grammatical explanations given by Johnslat and fluffyhamster (and other posters) are the same questions that you will be asked by your students all day, every day. Are you going to be able to answer them? Do you see why at least a partial education in TESL is valuable? How do you plan on dealing with 20,40,60+ students who are goofing off? And the ones who aren't? How will you deal with pairing a slacker and a non-slacker?

In other words- how do you plan on doing the JOB?

Last edited by santi84 on Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:30 pm; edited 3 times in total

Your fellow youth might be working at Burger King or playing xbox, but that is no excuse for having a lack of respect for a career which you are asking about. I was working in law enforcement at 19, I can promise you that I didn't get there by sarcasm or downplaying the importance of training.

I personally think everyone's been extremely tolerant and patience with a thread that started out with such a 'joke' premise to begin with.

These are exactly my thoughts too. I think the OP should realise his "experiment" didn't endear him to the community here and people indeed have been quite patient with him. In fact I wouldn't have gone to the trouble nomad soul did by helping him with information/advice; yet, the OP thinks Nomad soul has it in for him!

cmp45 wrote:

If you want to teach badly enough you will find a way to make it happen.

However there are two general camps:
1. People who are in a hurry- wanting to travel and experience life abroad right NOW and are not willing to put in the effort of getting properly trained (in any field) before hand, so these types take off on their exciting journey ill eqipped over the long haul. They are heading down a dead end path with limited prospects due to not having proper qualifications to get work to pay for the travel and lifestyle abroad. They usually end up stuck in a rut as time passes and end up frustrated later in life due to not having had the foresight to recognize the bigger picture. They don't believe they will ever grow old!

2. The second type recognizes the bigger picture and understands that teaching is a commitment and is willing to forego the travel abroad experience for a number of years to gain the necessary qualifications first. These people end up with stronger qualifications and are in a better position to pick and choose where they want to teach and have more freedom in deciding the type of teaching due to specialized training. They understand how the world of teaching works by conducting research. They "get" that obtaining an appropriate teaching degree will carry them further in life than without one. These types are laying a solid foundation for their future.

I have known people in both of the above camps who are now in their 40s and 50s...you can bet the ones that took their time getting properly qualified are much happier and have many more options to chose from compared to the ones that chose not to get the necessary training.

You will not be young forever. Be smart and take your time getting properly qualified. Volunteer within your comunity to gain some experience. Get a bachelors degree (at very least). University can also help you broaden your outlook. By the time you graduate you will still have plenty of years to teach abroad and at the same time equipped with the qualifications to take you where you want to go. You will have more control over your life.

Well said cmp45! I was kind of eager to go to Asia to teach early-mid 2013 (I already have some teaching experience by the way so know what it's like), but it dawned on me that I really need a Master's and PGCE... and maybe more, to put me in a better position professionally, and if that means I don't get to go to Asia for 2 1/2 years, well, so be it! It will be worth it, like you say when I get to 40/50 years of age.

As for jp...nomad always seems displeased in his post. He's usually doubting me, giving me negative inspiration, or downright telling me off (welcome to the real world). Welcome to the real world? All I did was ask an innocent question.

It's as if he didn't like me from the second I first posted.

Then, he was telling me to maybe not pursue this career. Thanks for the inspiration, nomad, I hope you enjoy stepping on people's dreams.

Wow, you're highly sensitive! We're not here to sugar coat and tell you how you can do it if you believe and have passion. People here want to tell you the truth for your own good.

Quote:

As for your question, jp, I wanted to become a teacher since I was a kid. Teaching the future of our world is the most amazing thing you can do, but also to spread your love of your native language to other children across the world and to help them learn it? Amazing.

But I guess I should give up my dream because I asked simple questions about how long it takes to get a degree.

Thanks. By the way it's not jp, but kpjf

You know when I was younger I always said to my parents that I wanted a snake as a pet. They told me I could have one when I turned 18. I ended up not getting one by the time I turned 18. Sometimes when dreams come true you wake up and realise they're not as good as you thought. However, your best bet is to go and volunteer somewhere locally and that will give you an idea if you really enjoy doing it (and of course get your BA). You seem to have passion, that's good, but...

santi84 wrote:

If you sat in a classroom with 20 other students, and your instructor was a 19 year old with no related education in teaching or the Spanish language, do you think you would be happy paying for that class?

I totally agree here. I wouldn't have wanted a 19 year old version of me teaching me a language. Quite simply at 19 you don't know enough of your own language to teach it effectively.

You know I never wanted to teach but had free time on my hands and wanted to volunteer and give something back to my community. I volunteered as a teacher even though I wasn't so keen, but there wasn't anything else I wanted to do volunteer wise so decided to try it out. Doing this is what made me develop a passion for teaching and made me decide that I wanted to teach.